Looking forward to 2020

It's a new year and that means a new list of new things to look forward to!

But first, taking one last gander back at 2019, a last minute addition needs to be added to last week's list because I didn't get a chance to watch "The Witcher" on Netflix before writing it. If I had, I would have included it.

Alright. With that out of the way, let's look at some of the cool things to look forward to as we kick off this shiny new decade.

Star Trek: Picard

CBS All-Access is coming-out-swinging next year with its biggest power-play yet. On January 23, Patrick Stewart returns to his career defining role as Jean-Luc Picard, literally ushering in a new era of Star Trek with the first chronological entry in the series in a generation. With both "Star Trek: Enterprise" and "Star Trek: Discovery" being prequel series, "Star Trek: Picard" will be the first show in nearly 20 years to push the clock forward.

Star Wars: Clone Wars

While Star Trek returns in January, Star Wars will still be going strong in February when "Star Wars: Clone Wars" returns for its final season on Disney+.

Technically, this is the third time the show has had a final season. The show ran for five seasons on Cartoon Network before being canceled in 2013 only for Netflix to chip in and produce 13 more episodes in 2014.

Now, in 2020, Disney is bringing it back again for 12 more episodes that will presumably tap Dave Filoni out of Clone Wars stories completely. At least until the next time.

Final Fantasy VII Remake

My favorite game of last year was a remake of a 20 year old PlayStation game. Oddly enough, that might just be the case again this year.

A remake of "Final Fantasy VII" has been the holy grail of gaming since Square-Enix first teased the idea in 2005 with a PlayStation 3 tech demo. For ten years fans clung to speculative rumors and wishful thinking until the thought of a re-imagining of the game until the idea was reduced to something "that would be nice, but they'll never do it."

Then they did it. In 2015, out of nowhere, Square-Enix announced that the remake was coming. And then, silence again. Four more years passed with little more than some key art to show for it and word of internal personnel changes had people wondering if the game had been quietly canceled.

Thankfully, it has not.

Not only does "Final Fantasy VII Remake" have a release date of March 3, whatever they were doing behind those closed doors for the last five years looks like it's paid off. For a long time Square-Enix has been trying to find a balance between modern action-based and traditional menu-based combat. From the demos that have been shown so far, it looks like they may have finally got it.

Good thing too. If there was any game where it's important to "get it right," this would be the one.

The New Mutants

Remember a few years back when Fox was just going wild with the X-Men movies? "Deadpool" was making all the money, "Logan" was getting all the awards, and "X-Men: Apocalypse" was… alright.

About that time Fox had another mutant based movie in the works. This one centered around a younger set of super-powered outcasts dealing with the horrors of being a persecuted youth and just horrors in general. The script is said to be inspired by the classic "demon bear" story-arc of the comics. With the sudden popularity of "It," Fox decided to lean-in on the horror aspect.

"The New Mutants" finished filming in 2017. Typically, you would expect a movie that films in 2017 to come out in 2018. This movie did not.

First it was pushed to February of 2019. Then August of 2019. All the while re-shoots that were supposed to happen in 2018 still hadn't happened by mid-2019, which could be problematic when you're dealing with teenage actors.

Then Disney bought Fox.

This is a film that has been mostly done since 2018 trying desperately to navigate a series of seemingly unending extenuating circumstances just to get out the door.

"The New Mutants" is scheduled for release on April 3.

We'll see.

Cyberpunk 2077

If there's any game I'm looking forward to in 2020 more than "Final Fantasy VII Remake," it's "Cyberpunk 2077."

Based on the table-top RPG series, the game puts you in the role of a scrappy mercenary trying to navigate the dystopian future ruled by crime syndicates and mega-corporations with whatever means you can manage. Whether that means smooth talking and subterfuge, hacking anything with a computer chip, or just using all of the guns is up to the player.

Developed by CD Projekt Red, the developers that turned an obscure Polish fantasy novel into a global phenomena by making a game about it that was just that good, there's little doubt that "Cyberpunk 2077" will deliver.

Also, Keanu Reeves plays a large role, so there's that.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife

In the wake of the 2016 reboot, it seemed that the Ghostbusters franchise was fated for a return to the grave but Sony has apparently decided to give the series another lease on life.

This time, instead of moving away from the originals, "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" is leaning in. Not only does the movie serve as a sequel to the original two films, it is written and directed by Jason Reitman, son of the original director Ivan Reitman.

A third Ghostbusters movie has been in development hell for even longer than the "Final Fantasy VII" remake. Dan Aykroyd has spent the better part of 20 years trying to get a "Ghostbusters 3" off the ground. This is not that movie, (the Ghostbusters video game is as close as we'll ever get to that movie) but it looks interesting none-the-less.

Maybe a little more Spielberg than I would expect, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

The Falcon and Winter Solder

Finally, late in 2020, Disney+ will continue to justify its monthly fee with the first of many Marvel Cinematic Universe spin-off shows. Specifically, "The Falcon and Winter Soldier."

The banter between Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan was one of the highlights of "Captain America: Civil War" so we are long overdue for another dose of their buddy-cop antics.

Six episodes almost feels too short but that's still basically longer than a theatrical movie.

Honorable Mention

I'm adding a speculative spot here for the yet-to-be named sequel to "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild," which might, if we're all really good boys and girls, see a winter release.

It's already been nearly three years since the original game came out. Assuming development on a sequel started right away, and considering the game sold 16 million copies you can bet that it did, that's a pretty lengthy development for a game that gets to build off its predecessor's engine and assets.

Of course, Zelda games and delays go together like peanut butter and jelly. 2021 may be more realistic, but I'm an optimist.

Travis Fischer is a news writer for Mid-America Publishing and has plenty to look forward to in the new year.